Embrace your Desires
by AyakaShima
Summary: He wants her to continue his bloodline. But after some fruitless attempts and the way she lives her life that changes things. He starts to observe her from the distance and when she finds out she allows him to be near her, his feelings about her changes. He starts to miss the warmth he feels, when she is around, when she is not. But how will she decide? The fight between Kazama and
1. Embrace your Oni

**Hi everyone. I'm back with another story. Again excuse me my kind of writing stories, as English is not my native languge. This story, as you can see, is about the relationship between Chizuru and Kazama and Chizuru and Hijikata. And the way, she decides whom she wants. If you have wishes, tell me. I'm also always happy for reviews. But start reading first and have fun =)  
** _

Its been a while since Kazama heard that the last remaining family member of the Yukimura clan was playing around with the Shinsengumi. Though at this time he hadn't given this topic much attention. But the day a girl ran into the fight at Ikeda, to save her friend, that changed his thinking.

He didn't like to play guardian for Choshu and Satsuma men, but it was his faith that he was there that day. When the sound of a fight echoed through the house of Ikeda, Kazama stood up slowly, looked over to Amagiri and Shiranui, who both nodded and Shiranui went. "I hate these human fights." He said and Amagiri sighed. "You're right. It's exhausting." Shortly after, two men entered, their swords rifled and directed at them. Kazama's facial traits tensed. "Stop this. We have no reason to fight you. If you turn back now, we'll let you live." The red-haired man on Kazama's right said calmly. But they didn't listen to him. Instead they argued with him.

Kazama tried to stay calm, but inside he despised them the first second he saw that humans. "We can't let these Choshu people escape." The younger, and hot-headed one said. "We are not Choshu." Amagiri tried to calm the situation but he Shinsengumi guy rushed towards him, his sword held high and tried to strike him. Though he hadn't had a chance. Kazama smiled when he flew backwards. Now it was his time to play with the other human. That one tried to hit him, but Kazama just dodged every single sword heap. It was ludicrous, he didn't have a chance against Kazama. "You shouldn't be challenging me with only that level of skill." He laughed and draw his sword. With very little effort he parried also every other hit of his opponent. "What a stubborn human." Just now anger rose in him, he had enough of this stupid game. How the human could just think of having a chance against him.

His blood heated. With one sword thrust the human lost his ground and a kick let him fall on the ground. This is boring, Kazama thought, but still a smile on his face. He stood up again, but in his condition, he would die fast, if Kazama didn't end this stupid fight. "Wait, I can still fight." Kazama stopped. "So, you want me to kill you that much." A last heap of his sword and this human would die. But then something unexpected happened. A girl threw her into Kazama's way and saved the human from dying. "Okita-san." She had yelled. To her luck, Kazama had halfway stopped, so that his sword just hit her face. Though, why had he stopped? Her voice had made him. "Move." He told her, but she wouldn't. And finally, the situation began to become very interesting. Suddenly her eyes glowed yellow, her wound healed. "You are one of us?" he asked shocked, though he hadn't seen a female Oni in years. Another question came into his mind.

"Why are you helping these humans? Don't you know, what you are?" When her face showed irritation, he made up his mind to show her, what her real nature was. His crimson eyes turned just as yellow as hers and his blond hair started to turn snow-white. This process also made her hair turn white. "Yukimura! Souji!" a dark male voice resonated, and his appearance turned normal again. A second later another man ran into that room, his sword ready to hit Kazama. Fast he riposted the hit, just using his right hand. That human was interesting and much stronger than his fellow. "Who are you?" he groaned exerted. "Oh, and why won't you introduce yourself first?" Kazama liked that man. "Shinsengumi's vice commander, Hijikata Toshizu!" He heard that name before, but he was unsure where. "Kazama Chikage." He said coldly. "I'll leave this woman in your care for now. Please take care of her for the time being." With a last glimpse of the girl, their eyes met for a short second, he vanished.

Amagiri put a hand on his shoulder. "That will become interesting." He said amused. A long while they watched the humans flee the chaos the Shinsengumi left at Ikeda. That day many Satsuma died, but the Shinsengumi couldn't get everyone. When they got back to Satsuma the commander welcomed them but looked rather bad tempered. "Kazama-sama. May I ask you, what happened at Ikeda?" his tone was harsh, his eyes tried to fixate his crimson ones but after mere a second he looked away. Kazama tried to hold back a smirk. "Don't forget to whom you speak." He said harsh before he lent against the wall and looked out into the stars. "You should be careful with the Shinsengumi." "Shinsengumi?" his face went pale. "Amagiri, let's go." The man nodded, and they left the human all to himself.

"Kazama." Amagiri started. They walked along the exerted road. "What is it?" A strong hand grabbed his shoulder and forced him to turn around. "You said that girl at Ikeda is one of our kind. Is that right?" Suddenly her face showed before his eyes. Her brown eyes turning into beautiful yellow ones. Yes, he was sure that she was an Oni. Though he wanted to check it, just in case he was wrong. "Get Shiranui, we will check that."

They left in the evening, Shiranui had just arrived, and headed to the place where Choshu would attack the shogun. Kazama was sure that the Shinsengumi would be there and Hijikata would make sure that the Yukimura girl would come with him. When they arrived at the castle, a fight was fully in place. It took him about a minute to locate the girl. "Are you sure with this, Kazama? A lot people are here now." Kazama nodded certainly. "They will all be occupied with playing bodyguard for the shogun. And even though they disturb us, there is no chance in loosing that fight." Chizuru just turned around an empty corner, when she almost fell. Such a weak girl, he thought. "Let's the show begin." He whispered.

Suddenly Chizuru turned her head into their direction. Her sight had changed. Now she looked more like an Oni. "You are…" she began. At least she noticed them. It was the aura of an Oni which was different from any other aura at all, always a bit threatful. Which was good because you shouldn't take on an Oni easily. "Why are you here? How did you…?" Though, it appears she wasn't aware of Oni powers at all, she wouldn't have asked such a dumb question otherwise. "Those obstacles created by humans wouldn't stop us Oni at all." Shiranui answered her. An irritated look appeared on her face, when he said the word 'Oni'. "Oni? You want to make fun out of me?" she asked earnest. So, she hadn't had a clue. Kazama sighed. "You really don't know anything about Oni. Even though you are one of us, Yukimura Chizuru." On one hand it was kind of funny, to see an Oni who had no idea, who she was. But on the other hand, it was sad to see, that she had no idea and Kazama wondered what she learned from Kodo-san. "How do you know my name?" Chizuru asked shocked.  
In the next second Amagiri turned up behind her. "Your wounds heal much faster than normal human wounds do."

Shiranui started to get bored. "In that case, why don't we show her?" Kazama's temper rose slowly. I dare you to touch her, he thought angrily. "Enough, Shiranui!" he said instead. "Believe us or not, it doesn't change a thing for us. No words are necessary. But it's true, you do have the last name of an Oni and the kodachi of the Oni of the east. That's enough proof for us." At least it was enough proof for Kazama himself and one reason for him to make her his. "We don't need your acceptance to kidnap you." Elegant he jumped down from the wall and landed right in front of her. Unsecure her hand grabbed her kodachi and she went some steps back. "Female Onis are valuable. Come with us." He could see fear in her big brown eyes, so he holds out a hand. He hoped that she would except it, but her gaze made him doubt. She was one of the very few female Oni he ever saw in his life so far. Therefore, it was crucial for him to get her.

Suddenly her Shinsengumi friends appeared to save her. He should have made a bet, because whenever she was in danger someone of them was always there to save her. One side of him was grateful for them, so she was also save from everything else, but they also interrupted his plans, again. "Oi, it's not okay to pick up a lady from such a place." One of her dogs said. "You again." Kazama sighed. They would start to annoy him anytime soon. And there he was again. The interesting guy from Ikeda. "Stay back." He told Chizuru. "I thought you were here because of the shogun's head. But now I ask myself what's your plan with this girl." His dark purple eyes fixated on Kazama's crimson eyes. Though, usually humans fear the aura of an Oni, these guys were totally different. "Neither you, nor the shogun is of our interest. This is a matter between Oni." Hijikata's sight changed. It wasn't fear but irritation. But he believed every word Kazama said. "Oni?" he asked suspicious. "Please go out of our way." Amagiri joined the conversation. "We have no reason to fight with you." "But I have all reason to fight with you." The purple haired man of the Shinsengumi said. "Fine. Then you let me no choice." Also, another member of the Shinsengumi got ready to fight with Shiranui.

Kazama watched his friends fight for some time until he had enough. "Don't try to look like warriors." He draws his sword and Hijikata blocked. He really was stronger than other humans he fought against, but if Kazama fought with all his strength he never had a chance. "What do you want with that girl?" he asked curiously. "Chizuru is way too noble to stay with you humans. That's the reason we want to take her with us. That's all." Their swords stuck to each other, until Hijikata started a new attack. "What do you mean?" Their swords made loud sounds as they met each other several times. It didn't take Kazama much strength to parries his opponents attempts to hit, but it seemed as if Hijikata was fast enough to cut a strain of Kazama's hair. That was amazing, if you understand that Kazama was much faster and stronger than that human. It really surprised him, and he would accept Hijikata as enemy. "It's meaningless to keep fighting. Let's go, Kazama." Amagiri was always the worried type. "We confirmed our suspicion, there is no need to stay." Kazama told Shiranui, to underline Amagiri's words.

"We will come back soon. Wait for us." He told Chizuru, before they vanished.


	2. Do You Even Know What Women Want?

**Hey guys. It's time for another chapter. I thank all of you for reviewing. Have fun reading.**

Kazama suited himself on the roof of their headquarters with a good sight of the female Oni. "What is it, that you like these humans so much?" he said quietly. Down there she washed clothes and sighed several times. Suddenly he heard another voice. "Chizuru." A male voice called her. It was the hot-headed boy Amagiri fought against at Ikeda. "Heisuke-kun. What is it?" a smile appeared on her lips. Heisuke ran towards her. "How is it doing? You always do our dirty stuff." With a loud sigh he left himself down next to her. "You know, Chizuru, I'm happy, that you are here. You make everything better and everyone more motivated. You're a relief." Chizuru stopped the cleaning and sat herself down, too. "Oh, that's nothing. I'm happy to help." Out of a sudden her expression changed. "I just wish, I could find my father." She said sadly and quieter. Also Heisuke's expression changed, he seemed to be worried. "Oh, don't worry, we will find Kodo. That's a promise." Heisuke shrugged his arms behind his head and he looked up in the sky. A shy smile appeared on Chizuru's face.

Kazama asked himself why Chizuru tried to find Kodo. Or that she thought that Kodo was her father. Though he couldn't stop remembering her sad sight, her sad voice. It must be something very important to her. Another thought came up in his mind. Never had he thought about, what was important to him personally. He knew, that it was important for him, as head of the Kazama family, to pay the debt his ancestors had with Satsuma. Also, that it was important to beware his lineage, but that was nothing he, as Kazama Chikage, wanted for his personal interests. Thus, it became crucial to think about, what he really wanted.

With his thoughts in his mind and his eyes fixated on Chizuru he hadn't realised that she looked back, their eyes locked the next moment. They both didn't dare to break the lock, until Heisuke spoke. "What is it, Chizuru?" he asked irritated. "Nothing. It's time for dinner, go inside. I'll come in some minutes." She said, her eyes still staring at Kazama. A bit irritated, Heisuke went inside. Carefully she came some foot lengths nearer. "What do you want here, Kazama?" Slowly he stood up, a smile appeared on his face. He didn't mean this situation to happen, but he wanted to use this opportunity. Quietly he jumped from the roof and stood in front of her. It was a wonder that she hadn't call for help. Instead she made Heisuke go away. Such a weird girl, such a weird situation. Slowly he walked some more steps into her direction and she didn't dare to move. "What do you want here? Do you want to take me?" she asked insecure and her hand wandered towards her kodachi. He was well aware of the fact, that her hands were shaking, just slightly but they were. She didn't even dare to break their eye contract. Next to fear he was also able to see hatred, but something totally different too. It seemed to be curiosity.

"Yes, I want to take you with me, but not today. I was just here to observe, until you saw me." It wasn't lying, he only wanted to watch her, to understand, why she spends so much time with these humans. "Please go. I don't want to be watched." She said coldly, turned around and went inside. She didn't even look at him one last time, before she closed the door, she totally hung him out to dry. That hurt. "You should go." From around a corner came another member of the Shinsengumi. "You are the one, Shiranui likes so much." He recognised. "Is that so? Harada Sanosuke it is. A pleasure to finally talk to you, Kazama." He smiled, though his Yari placed between the two men. "The pleasure is mine." Kazama said in his usual cold-ish voice. "But I don't intend to play with you today. I don't want to hurt Shiranui's toy." With these words spoken and a smirk on his face he vanished.

"Where have you been?" Amagiri asked him, when he returned. "Out. What's the matter?" Amagiri sighed audible. "We have been invited to Shimabara to investigate for Satsuma. You'll go tomorrow." Kazama nodded. "Fine, I'll go." The Oni was happy that Amagiri always did the official stuff, so that he only had to do the work. Since his childhood they had known each other and have been close friends. They had also divided their work like this. Amagiri had talked to the people and Kazama had done the work. Not, that Kazama wasn't capable of doing politics. He just didn't like it very much and politic conversations always bored him vastly. Mostly he was present, but his mind was almost every time occupied with other things. And this time, it was Chizuru. "Oh, and Amagiri." He said, before he finally left his friend. "What is it?" Amagiri was always relaxed and never showed any kind of emotions, which was a funny thing for Kazama, who was clearly the opposite. "Thanks for your work."

In Shimabara he sat in a room with about ten humans, who discussed the next steps of something. Kazama really tried to listen, but shortly after the event started he got annoyed and left. It was a chilly night and he enjoyed the fresh air, until a certain scent expanded in his nostrils. It was Chizuru's special scent, he was sure. Effortless he found the origin of that smell and saw her outside of a room, who looked puzzled after a noisily vanishing Heisuke. There was another opportunity to take her with him. Before he approached her, he let his eyes run over her appearance. Her usual male clothes were replaced with a beautiful rainbow coloured kimono, which really suited her. The kimono itself was light red and became more orange further down. Lighter red flowers were knitted onto it. The large ribbon, which hold the fabric on her body was dark blue with golden ornaments. It was a masterpiece of clothes, though he could sense that she felt uncomfortable in it. The brown hair of hers wasn't bend to a normal ponytail. Her pony was bend above her head, so that her sight was free.

When he appeared behind her, she magically turned around and their eyes met suddenly. His crimson ones burned into her brown ones. Her face was paler than the last time he saw her, probably due to her make-up. Also her eyes were painted, in fact, they were perfectly highlighted with red ink over her eye lash, her lashes itself dark and long. In the first second, her eyes sunk into his, no doubt, she liked to stare at them. Only when she realised which eyes fascinated her, she was petrified. Her expression changed, he could see fear in them. She didn't expect him, he guessed. "Uhm." She stumbled. "Bring some sake." He said relaxed. He had decided that he wanted to play her game. It would be amusing, to see her react to him. Of course, she recognised him, he was sure that her heart stopped for a second, the moment she realised who he was. Still petrified, they stared into each other's eyes, as she simply wasn't able to move in that situation. That really amused him.

In the distance some men laughed loudly, the men he escaped from. "I'm tired of their monkey business and slipped out to get some fresh air. Drinking with those jerks is great disrespect to sake." He said with his dark voice. It seemed, that Chizuru was still in shock. Their eyes met again, but shortly after, she looked away, a blush appeared on her cheeks. "Hurry. You are the geiko here, aren't you?" Kazama tried to get her out of her reserve. Finally, she spoke. "Yes." Was her short answer. She asked him to have a seat in the room next to them. "Please wait a moment, I am going to prepare the sake right now." She didn't even try to pretend that she was a geiko. Drunken men wouldn't probably recognise, but he wasn't drunk or dumb. It was disappointing, that she was that less prepared for him. "How strange. You don't speak like a geiko. Were you born in the East?" It was fun to pretend not to know. Her mood hadn't changed once, she still had that fear in her eyes, which made him sort of sad. "My apologies. I..am fresh here and still can't be used to it." Such a bad lie, he thought. "All geiko in Shimabara should have started their career as servant girls since childhood." Now your game is over. He smiled, and Chizuru let out a sigh of shock. "Enough of your tricks, Yukimura Chizuru." That was the first time, she really looked him into his crimson eyes with surprise. "Do you think, I would fail to recognise you?" When their eyes met this time, a totally different expression showed in his eyes. It was longing, the more he looked at her, the more he wanted her, just now.

She could be a beauty, if the Shinsengumi let her. It was totally different, to be in her present when she looked like this, when she was so beautiful. The longing expanded from minute to minute, the more he breathed her scent, the more her eyes stared at him, the more she was in his presence, the more his longing grew, until it burned in his chest. Never had he felt anything for a woman before, not only because there were a very few female oni, but also because he never had interest in one in particular. But Chizuru in her beautiful outfit and her perfect make-up changed that. Chizuru became much more interesting.

Kazama made his decision, his heartbeat fastened rapidly. His hand grabbed her chin and he pulled her slowly towards him. Where their skin met, he felt her much colder skin, but the touch became from moment to moment stronger. "Sure enough. Your beauty is worthy of my hand in marriage. My possessiveness towards you grows even stronger now." Then he grabbed her left hand with his free one, their eyes locked. "Please, let go of me, I'm not your wife." She said desperately, her voice almost failed. "This is a compliment. You should be proud." But she tried to get out of his grip, again he could see fear in her eyes rising. His need to kiss her grew in every moment. Her skin was soft and warm, her smell gorgeous. Only inches separated their faces. His heartbeat became faster, the tingling too. He could also hear her heart beat faster, their hearts almost in sync. Her cheeks turned soft red, their eyes still locked. Slowly his lips turned towards hers. But before they could touch each other, they were disturbed. The door opened and the next thing he felt was a hit on his head. "Behave yourself." Sen-hime told him angrily. Because of that, Chizuru was able to free herself out of his grip. "Osen-chan" she spoke out relieved. "Chizuru-chan, run." Kazama still recovered from this shock moment. That woman destroyed his moment. "You bitch." He yelled at her, anger rising. But Sen just made him angrier. "What?" Chizuru took the opportunity and ran out of the room. "Stop. I'm not finished talking yet." Was his desperate response to stop her from leaving. Though, it was useless, she was gone.

"The man who always clings to woman won't be welcomed." Sen's moral suasion irritated him hugely. What was it, she wanted from him? Why bother? "What?" he asked vexed. "It's just normal that your behaviour annoys Chizuru-chan." She lectured him further. Before she went on, they sat down and Kimigiku brought sake. "Kazama Chikage, you don't know how to court a woman at all." Kazama mould himself some sake, before he spoke. "Oh? You want to lecture me on courting women?" he asked amused. To get an advice on how to court women by a woman was absurd, but he still listened, as good as he could. Maybe something would be of any use. "Hum, whatever. You must be well raised as the leader of your family and you also have a nice outward appearance. So, you must think women will all crawl to get close to you. And you never think about what women want." He refilled his cup several times, while she talked. "Are you listening?" she asked angrily, when he refilled another time. Yes, he had listened, but her words didn't sink into his mind. "What did you say?" he asked half earnest, half out of amusement. "I said, have you ever considered what women want?" What women want? That question echoed through his mind. Had he? Was it necessary?

"Nonsense. Why would I ever need to consider such things?" But he wasn't sure, if that was the right answer. It was definitely the easiest one. "You weren't here for Chizuru in the first place, right?" Slowly, but surely that woman made him get annoyed. "So, what?" he asked bored. "You were probably here to find things out about other states and then you ran into her. You thought, she was walking into a trap, so you tried to take her. What happened next was an absolute don't. And you are not serious about that." Sen talked, and of course she was right, somehow. But he wouldn't let her know that. "This sake is not strong at all." He told Kimigiku, who served him the last sake. "Be honest, what do you really think of Chizuru-chan?" Sen asked further. She really was tedious. Much more annoying was, that she had a point. A point, which made up a big question mark in his mind. He never felt forced to think about that at all. "

Yukimura Chizuru is a precious female Oni of the original bloodline. It is beyond dispute, that she should be brought back to our race. The birth rate of female Oni is twenty percent of the whole population. And those of the original bloodline are even more precious. To revive the Yukimura clan and to protect our lineage, it doesn't matter whether there is love between us or not." That was fact and it was important, that he found someone to revive his linage. But that was not, what he felt. It now was the clearest thing in his mind. The more often he saw Chizuru, the more he was sure about it. No way, that he would admit it to Sen-hime, himself or someone else. "So you say, that your attempt to take Chizuru-chan was only for the protection of our linage?" Sen was slightly dashed. "What else did you expect?" Now she was speechless. Then Kimigiku had a pretty bold idea. "Hime-sama is also a female Oni of the original blood." Even when she had a point, that didn't mean that he was interested in Sen. On the contrary. It might have been, that the princess was also beautiful, but he also knew, that she wasn't perfect pure, because her grandfather was human.

But it wasn't even that argument, it was much more, that Chizuru made him feel things, he never felt before. And that was the reason, he would never think about another person to marry, then her. Even if he considered, taking Sen, he doubted, that he was able to take much more than five minutes in one room with her, she was such an annoying oni. "Do you wish to be taken by me?" he asked teasingly non-the less. Her expression showed what he hoped. "Absolutely not." Good, he thought.

Outside noises filled the room. An uproar started again, and Sen had enough. "My, my." She sighed. "Try to make her fall in love with you by your attitude." She said honestly, before she was interrupted by a male voice. "I found her." He yelled. Sen looked troubled. "You should know that taking women only by force is not what real men do. Can't you say something like 'come and follow me!'?" Another men's voice interrupted her, and she had enough. Someone started a fight and Sen stood up. "Wait for a moment, I haven't finished my words." And with these words she was gone.  
But Kazama didn't wait. He had enough of her lecturing and how to court women. It was his decision, how he appeared Chizuru. One thing was clear, he realised, he had to face her differently from now on. The other thing that was clear, was the fact that he really wanted her.

Kazama decided to go back and see, how the humans talk progressed, as a certain oni ran into his arms. "Wait woman." An angry voice yelled in his direction. 'Humans.' He thought and sighed. Suddenly he could feel her aura. Slowly he turned around and her eyes stared into his. She was just as much irritated to see him so fast again, as he was to see her again. "Huh? Did you come back to let me take you?" he teased her. He couldn't hide a smirk, when she blushed. Loud footsteps droned over the floor and a drunken man reached out for Chizuru. "Found you." He babbled. A firm grip tried to get hold of her. Distaste and fear hit her body and she begged him to let her go. Revulsion was also the feeling, that went through Kazama.

That man dared to touch his wife! Carefully he grabbed one of her hands, his eyes investigated her face, so signal her, that he didn't mean any harm and he pulled her closer. Afterwards he stepped closer towards the drunk. When that man wasn't able anymore to hold her, Kazama saw irritation on his face. "What the hell?" he asked, but soon after Kazama made him fall to the ground, so that he fell unconscious. From below he could hear her friends start a major tumult. "It seems, thanks to your people, that my investigation for Satsuma ends here." From next to him, he felt a glare from Chizuru. It flattered him, that she examined his appearance. "What's all the noise about?" an angry male voice asked. From the corner of his eyes he could see other men approaching.

Fastly he turned towards Chizuru, her hand pulled in his. When he touched her, another blush appeared on her face but she didn't dare to pull away. Their eyes met another time and it seemed that she wasn't afraid anymore. Not of him, at least. "I enjoyed this evening." He said and smiled gently at her. Before she knew what had happened, he placed a kiss on her forehead, before he faced her again. "Now go. I'll distract him." His voice was just as loud, that she was able to hear him. "Oi, what are you doing there?" a man asked him, slowly coming nearer. Her hand was still in his, as he turned halfway around. "Go, Chizuru." Were his last words, before he rubbed with his thump over her palm and let her finally go. It took her a short moment, before she started to run. "Don't let her go." The man screamed and advised his men to run after her. But Kazama stood himself in their way. "Out of the way." The man yelled at him. Slowly Kazama pulled out his katana, his eyes shone blood red. With a heap of the handle of his katana and his oni speed, he knocked them out. One after another. When they all lay down on the ground and let out a groan, he sighed heavily. The softness of her skin still burned on his lips, her stare was highlighted in his thoughts. Slowly his fingers touched his lips, with the hope, that his lips would some time meet her lips. Another smile appeared on his face, when the thought of their last moment came in his mind again. She wasn't afraid. That let him hope, for something. Then he vanished, as his job was done here.


	3. The Rescue

Thank you again for reviewing everyone.

Ari – I'll try my best in the future to make it easier with the paragraphs = )

 **Oh and btw when you read things you recognise from somewhere else or it's something that might not make sense (like for example Sen's clan name), then that's because from this point on, I refer to the fanfiction from FleurLilas "No longer Strangers" as I read it until a few days ago and it really inspired me. You can also see this as recommendation to read that fanfiction. But I try to hold these occasions on a minimum, so that I don't rewrite FleurLilas fanfic, as that is not what I want. You can also tell me, if that's okay for you or if I shouldn't refer to "No longer Strangers". Or if you have other ideas, let me know.**

 **And now, have fun reading =)**

"Kazama-sama." Amagiri said softly, though not looking at him. "What do you want to do with the Yukimura girl?" he asked curiously. Kazama sat on the windowsill in only his white yukata. His mind was far away, his mind was with her. Yesterday he found her with Heisuke on New Year's Eve in the centre of all these humans. It's been three years Amagiri, Shiranui and he spend in the human world, he realised as he thought about that day.

He observed from the distance first. But his desire for her made him come nearer. Though, he held his distance, as he didn't want to get seen by her. That day the sun was bright, it felt more like spring then New Year's Eve. When he walked some metres away from them, he analysed her. As usual she wore her light rose gi and a hakama. Her hazel hair was bend with a red ribbon. She didn't look as beautiful as the day in Shimabara, but the oni had the memory of her beauty always in mind. It didn't matter for him, how she looked.

It turned out, that the masses made her uncomfortable. Since he found out, that she would be there that day, to look for Kodo, he decided to have an eye on her. The idea exposed as good, when Heisuke left her to run into a fight. She promised him to get home safely. But the second Heisuke left her, he felt her mood become worse. When he approached her, the usual fear in her eyes rekindled. Though, it also seemed that the sight of someone who she knew, made her feel more comfortable again, because she let out a relieved sigh.

After what Sen had told him a while ago, he tried to be softer with Chizuru and she realised that too. It seemed to work, as she let him escort her back to the Shinsengumi headquarters on that day. When he left her yesterday, she was much more relaxed then the other times, she was with him. They were also able to have relaxed conversation with each other. Maybe it was because he didn't try to kidnap her anymore. It wasn't that he didn't want to take her with him anymore, he just tried another way.

Finally, his mind came back into the present, suddenly he looked at Amagiri. "I'll do, what that wench told me to." Amagiri rose an eyebrow. "Wench?" As Amagiri wasn't with him at Shimabara, Kazama needed to explain it eventually. "Sen lectured me about courting women back then." With this thought, he chuckled. Never could he have imagined her to lecture him about anything. All those times he had some business with her, they almost started a fight. It was always Amagiri who maneuvered them through their businesses. That must have been the time, the red-haired found interest in the Shinobi-clan princess.

When Amagiri still had a questioning impression, he sighed. Kazama hadn't intend to tell him about his encounter with Chizuru in Shimabara. But now, he hadn't had another choice. "I met Chizuru and I tried to kiss her. It had worked, if Sen hadn't interrupt us." He went with his hands through his hair. The red haired oni gave him a serious look. Kazama knew that he wouldn't accept his behaviour much longer. But before Amagiri allowed himself to lecture his friend, too, Kazama rose from his position and put his black haori over his shoulders. He walked past his friend, padded his shoulder and stopped in the door.

"Don't worry, I will treat her differently from now on. As for the wench, she deserves that name. But still, she had a point with what she said." he smiled and turned around, to see a disapproving look on Amagiri's face. The blond knew, that he liked the Shinobi clan leader since quite a long time now. Though, he wondered, why he never tried to get close to her. "Don't call her that." Amagiri deadpanned. The courage of him fascinated Kazama. "You should tell her, that you like her. I'm not interested in your love life, as long as you can do your job." He smiled and got a shocked glare from the other oni, before he finally vanished out of Amagiri's sight.

The day was almost at an end and the sun began to hide behind the horizon, when Kazama made his way to the Shinsengumi headquarter. When he arrived there, he recognised that their headquarter was very easy to encounter, if wanted. Slowly he walked down the road towards her home, with a gut feeling, that something wasn't right. With his oni speed he ran towards the building. Hasty he activated his other oni senses and became aware of a fight. In the distance he could make out an ongoing fight, as the sound of colliding swords reached his ears. But he wasn't interested in fighting, as he came for Chizuru. He knew, exactly what to do: He had to saver her!

It took him another second to locate Chizuru. Her scent showed him his way, it was mixed with fear and shock. In nearly some more seconds he stopped near her. To his terror there were some rasetsu, which broke free from their prison. But now wasn't the time to be angry about these humans, because Chizuru's life was in massive danger. Without any sound he draw his katana and walked towards them.

The first of the rasetsus and the nearest to him didn't realise what happened, when Kazama swung his sword. Without effort its heads fell from its body. But there were four more. Slowly they made their way to Chizuru, who hunched against a wall, her arms clutched around her knees. As he rose his sword again, one of the remaining rasetsus turned around. Its blood red eyes stared at the blond oni. "Blood. Give me your blood." It said, its hands outstretched. "How pathetic." Kazama couldn't hide his distaste any longer. "Blood." It said again. "Give me.." but before he ended his sentence, Kazama ran his katana through his heart.

As another one turned around to him, he sighed. To his displeasure were the other two dangerously close to Chizuru. "Your blood. Give it to me." The rasetsu, who came into his direction, started a run. "I don't have time for this." But this time the rasetsu got a grab of his throat. Heat flickered up in the oni's crimson eyes. As the anger in him rose, the abomination in front of him burst into flames. He had enough. With his katana firm in his hand, he beheaded the last two imitations, who started just the second ago to grab after Chizuru.

"Are you ok?" he asked as he approached her slowly. Her hazel eyes were filled with more shock then the other times, but that wasn't his fault. Caringly he held out a hand, to help her up. But she just stared at him in shock. Chizuru didn't move any millimetre, her heart pounded loud and fast in her chest. When she didn't move for over minutes, he kneeled himself in front of her. He laid his haori, which he undressed a moment ago, over her shoulders, because her body was shaking. "It's ok now, they are dead." He said softly, but she didn't hear him. Her eyes here staring right through him.

Kazama sighed and breathed in hardly. "Chizuru." He said one more time. She made him worry, she would probably need some time to get over this situation. His warm hands carefully touched her cheeks. With his thump he caressed her cheeks, before he pulled her closer, so that his arms tighten around her body. His warmth gave her some comfort and it also made her warm up. "It's okay. You're safe now." The first move she made was giving in to his hug. Tears fell down her face, he could feel the warm, wet tears through his yukata. "Thank you, Kazama-san." She whispered into his yukata. They sat like this some minutes. Her cherry-bloom scent was familiar to him, she only smelled more intensely the day they met in Shimamura.

Suddenly she shrieked up, pulling herself out of the hug. "The others." She had difficulties to say. "S-safe them, please." But Kazama just shook his head. Her shock faded slowly and changed to something totally different. "Then I safe them myself." She said angrily, she managed to face him, and her determination fascinated him. When she tried to stand up the blond didn't let her go and pulled her back into a hug. "They are safe, Chizuru. They don't need to be saved." He said, chuckling, he soft patted her head. "How do you know that?" she asked surprised, but she instantly relaxed again. "I can feel it. I'll teach you some day, if you want."

A soft smile appeared on his lips and became much brighter, when she looked at him again in astonishment. "Really? You can teach me?" Chizuru started to look more and more like she got over the first shock. Pleased with himself, he nodded. "You want to learn more about your oni powers?" he asked curiously and without hesitation she nodded.

"You are no longer needed. Let go of her!" Said a dark, threatening voice and stopped their conversation. Kazama's neck was tingling, because he felt the tip of a sword held near it. Chizuru looked from Kazama's warm crimson eyes into the purple, threatening eyes of the man she liked very much. "Chizuru. Come here." He said, his eyes didn't dare to let go of Kazama's. When these sharp words entered her mind, she flinched, before she realised what had happen.

Abruptly she broke the still-hug of Kazama and her and when his hand let go of her, he could feel emptiness flood him again. "Hijikata-san." She said relieved, that he was still alive and ran towards him. When Kazama stood up and turned around, he saw into the icy eyes of the man, whose name she said a moment ago, which sword was still held on his neck. Disappointment rose in Kazama, as this human ruined his moment with Chizuru. When he looked at the girl, she clutched herself onto the man's arm. It made the distaste rising inside him. How was an oni like her so fond of humans, he didn't understand. Though, he could also see, that he woke curiosity in her.

"What are you doing with Chizuru?" the human asked him sharply, with no intention of taking his blade from his throat. "While you were fighting against these imitations, I saved her. You should either keep a better eye on those abominations or keep her safer. I won't always be here to save her from your frauds. Keep that in mind, human." He snapped disparaging, his eyes burning into the lilac one's of his opponent. Shortly he saw something between remorse and fear flicker in them, but finally they lost all its meaning. Instead he saw into eyes, which showed him, that he would never accept his contact with her.

Forthwith the katana of his opponent bored into his neck. A stitch of pain filled Kazama's body, but he didn't dare to move just now. While his sword bored more and more into his skin, his crimson eyes slowly turned gold. The air around them began to flicker, as blue particles started to circle around him. Without effort he had activated his oni powers. That was obvious, as his hair turned show-white. Kazama had summoned an unrestrained forcefield, which he only did to show him and more important her, what he could do.

His forcefield swirled dust into the air and suddenly the pain on his throat vanished, because Hijikata lost grip of his sword and it flew through the air. It bored itself into the dirt some metres behind them. It also had another positive effect, as he closed his eyes for a second. When he opened them again, his forcefield spread, until it circled also Chizuru's body. Then he concentrated on turning her into her almost-oni-form. As her hair tips turned slowly white, her eyes opened in surprise. This was, what he did in Ikedaya before. Kazama smirked in her direction. When Hijikata realised what happened, he turned around to face Chizuru.

With the blink of an eye, Kazama himself had drawn his own katana and was the one, who hold his katana on his opponent's throat instead. "This is her nature. You can't hide it from her forever." As their eyes locked again, Kazama tighten his grip, so now his katana made his opponent bleed. "You will never again talk to me like this. And neither will you put your sword against me. Is that clear?" Chizuru let out a noise of fear. "Kazama-san, please stop." She cried. Kazama sighed and his oni form vanished slowly, his hair began to fade back to blond, as he withdrew. Finally, also his forcefield vanished and Chizuru herself changed back to normal. "I am much stronger than you will ever become. Be clear of that, human."

Then he turned towards Chizuru. "I hope you're okay. I wanted to talk to you today, but I think we should postpone that. I'll come back." He said gently and approached her once more to pat her head. When their eyes met, he saw a grateful expression in them. When she smiled, he turned around. "Take care of her." He said to Hijikata suspiciously. Once again, he spoke to Chizuru. "Oh, and I want to have that back." A smile played around his lips, as his slender fingers pointed onto Chizuru herself. Irritated she looked down on her and saw her body wrapped in his black haori. When Hijikata looked down on her, she blushed. He had all he wanted and finally vanished.


	4. Reality?

It's time for another chapter. Yay =)

Longjie - Thank you for your review. I know right. I wished that he really would have been able to kidnap her, so that we would find out more about them. But as we know almost nothing about their powers etc. its easier to imagine own things and write about it ^^

Fleur Lilas - I thank you so much for reading my fanfic :D Yeah, I'm working on the paragraph thing. I hope I'm able to work that out, before my story ends. (I started my own fanfiction but when I fell ill, I did nothing else than reading yours, and it became sort of my reality of Hakuouki. I'm glad you like it so far

Kazama came to pick her up. When he came there, she was smiling at him, as she would finally find out something about their kind. "Hello Kazama-san." She chirped and smiled at him. Kazama looked around in suspicion. It was to quiet. Normally, when he came, all of the Shinsengumi dogs would walk around and look at him in disapproval and distaste.

But this time it was just Chizuru and she seemed to be in a very good mood. In a better mood he had ever seen her, when he showed himself to her. He decided to investigate this issue while he spend his promised time with her to tell her more about oni. "Let´s go." She clutched herself onto his right arm and began to walk and dragged him behind her.

Her arm clutched so tight around his arm, that he almost found it fake. Just like she wanted to proof something to someone, but he let it be for the time being. Also, her happy hum was nothing he had heard from her before. Though, he liked that she was happy and in a good mood. And he would find out, what was going on.

Kazama's irritation grew every moment a little more. "Are you ok?" he asked carefully after some time, his eyes fixated her. He tried to find out, if not only the situation itself was totally absurd but also if her behaviour was different, more different as usual. But Chizuru just smiled at him. For a short moment she turned her head to him, and their eyes met.

"I'm fine. What's with you?" she asked in return and gave him an irritated look herself. That girl really had an unusual expression on her face. Though, usually she was blushing at him more often, but today was different. She didn't seem to be as affected by his charm.

"Never mind." The words left his mouth, his eyes looked up into the trees. He could see the leaves swim in the wind, while some fell down slowly. The sun made them glitter golden. As one appeared in front of his eyes he caught it and turned it in his hand while looking at it. Even the leave didn't seem right, it felt not as natural and detailed as usual. "Hm." He snorted and let the leave go. It made its way slowly to the ground and made a silent noise, Kazama was still able to hear.

They made their way into the nearby forest. It was a good day; the sun was shining bright. The warmth of it on his skin made him relax a little. He had always loved to be in the nature but even that felt not right today.

The only thing he could hear was the wind howling around them, but nothing else. There were no sound of birds chirping or other animals and he hadn't seen one either. They had walked for nearly an hour before he had realised that. Kazama thought about to ask Chizuru if she felt weird, too. But her behaviour was so not herself, that he decided not to.

When they had walked for a long time, Kazama stopped in his tracks. "Where exactly are we going, Chizuru?" he asked curiously. But Chizuru just cocked her head and smiled at him. Her eyes blocked the way into her mind. They usually said him how she felt or thought, but not today. She seemed to be empty. So weird.

"You'll see." She said exited and pulled him further into the forest.

And he did, when they finally arrived. It was a small clearing; the sun was shining perfectly through the trees. Chizuru grabbed his hand and guided him towards a big rock on the other end of the clearing, where she indicated him to sit down.

"You know, Kazama-sama" She started and with the last bit, he raised one eyebrow. It was long time ago he heard her call him like this. Actually, it was when she was a child. It hurt when he thought about the past. When she sat down next to him, she shifted around and placed his hands in hers. "I wanted to talk to you about some things. It's important."

"So, what is it then?" he asked partly curious, partly sceptical. When their hands met, her hands were cold as ice. Of course, in comparison to his heat, her skin was always cold but today it was somewhat different. It was as if she was dead. Which would make her a living dead at the moment. Her fingers played with his. She wasn't nervous, which was another thing that was unusual. No, now her fingers caressed his hands and they were soft. It felt good and he relaxed. For some time, none of them spoke and he just enjoyed her touch. Something he craved for a long long time.

He remembered the first time, he had seen her, on their betrothal ceremony. She was only a child, but he had loved her from the first day on. She was so friendly and kind, her direct art made him fall for her. The day he heard the news about her village being destroyed and that no one survived, he fell into a bad mood over months or even years.

Though, when he found out, she was alive, about two and a half year ago, he was shocked. But also relived. On their first encounter at Ikedaya he didn't recognised her. The second he found out, it was her, his hope came back. Though, her memory loss made it very difficult for him. Especially when he tried to persuade her to come with him and she didn't want to. It took him some time to understand the situation. But he knew, his time would come. He waited so long for her, he could wait a bit longer.

Suddenly her words brought him back into the present. "Well, you know, I thought to move out, to live somewhere else. Not anymore in the Shinsengumi headquarters."

Now she had his attention. His gaze bored into her still empty eyes.

"Why is that?" he asked curiously, his relaxed muscles tensed again with this news. As he never thought, that something like this would come out of her mouth.

"It's because of you. I want to have more time for you." For him? He didn't understand, but her words made his heart skip a beat. Never had he thought, such words would leave her mouth and she said them to him. Always he hoped that he came through to her, but she had only eyes for that other man. The man he learned to hate the last years.

"Kazama-sama. You mean a lot to me. And I think it's time to let everything else go. I just want you." Slowly she moved closer. Her hands now rested on his shoulders, her face came nearer. "I love you. I want you to know that." She said. His mind wasn't able to realise what she said. He just sat there perplexed, his eyes stared into the nothing.

A moment later she had closed her eyes and pressed her lips on his. When their lips touched a sensation rushed through his body. The first few seconds all he could do was give in to the kiss. But he didn't feel anything. Not the desire in his body taking control over him, not this beautiful tingling in his stomach. Nothing. Why he didn't know. He just knew, that he should be exited and that his heart should beat with a much faster frequency.

Abruptly he released her, and she looked puzzled at him. Kazama wasn't able to say anything, his mind empty. Chizuru's expression changed, tears ran down her cheeks. "Why?" she tried to ask, but her voice failed her. Suddenly her sadness became anger. A second later he could feel her hand hit his face. It hurt. More than it should have.

The pain hit him suddenly and unexpected. His hand touched the now hot and red space of his face, his ruby eyes fixated her. He tried to be angry, but he didn't understand what was going on. Her hazel eyes were slowly turning gold, her eyes hadn't look more poisonous before. The air around them began to spin, to cycle around them. "I hate you!" she screamed at him. "And I always hated you. You are heartless. Leave my life." She stood up and her hand hit him again. And all he could do was watch the situation worsen.

Her words hit him hart, they made his heart break. While he focused on staying calm, the atmosphere around them changed. The sun vanished from one second to the other, the trees began to die away, and he air smelled sour. Dark clouds hung now over them, she was still in rage and it didn't see, to cease soon.

Unable to speak he just stood there and watched. Watched her in her rage and screaming until he heard a voice. "Chizuru." A male voice said, HE said. Hijikata appeared out of thin air, his hand rested on her shoulder. Then all her anger vanished. She turned around to look him in the eyes and Kazama could see her smiling, when he hugged her. Hijikata touched her chin like Kazama had done many times, to make her look at him. Slowly her forcefield died away and her eyes became normal again.

A soft smile appeared on the samurai's lips. "I'm relieved, you came." Chizuru said. To Kazama's worst fears, they then kissed. Their kiss lasted a long time and sadness flooded his mind. Their kiss intensified. The desire he had, when he thought about Chizuru was just what they experienced in front of him. He feared this could happen someday, but he never wanted to see the woman he loved kiss another man. When they detached from each other, Chizuru threw a sinister gaze at him. "He forced me to kiss him." He heard her say.

Forced? Wasn't it her, that forced herself onto him? Not that he would ever regret kissing her, but he never forced her. Well, if the one time at Shimabara didn't count. He sighed, as Hijikata draw his katana. "For kissing my wife, you will die! All and forever!" The dark-haired man growled, anger driven.

Wife? They were married? How was that even possible? But before his mind was able to decipher what was said, Hijikata ran towards him, his sword over his head. Before Kazama was able to realise, that he wasn't armed, his enemy's blade ran through his heart. Pain filled his body and he trembled and fell onto the ground, kneeling. Before he lost consciousness out of pain and despair, the pair smirked at him and vanished. "Chizuru, why?" Was the last thing he could say before his mind fell into darkness.

Panicked and with a fast beating heart he awoke sweating. His body was trembling, when he tried to sit up. Automatically his hand wandered to his heart, where he was daggered the second before. Disorientated he looked up and saw Amagiri stare at him, his expression filled with fear. "Kazama-sama, is everything all right? You were screaming in your sleep."Kazama sighed and ran through his hair.

"I'm fine. I guess." He said dreamy.


	5. Recover Quickly

p class="MsoNormal"strongspan lang="EN-GB"Hello guys. I am so so so sorry that it took me so long for posting thhis chapter. I had some issues with my apprenticeship and therefore wasn't able to write that often. But now it is here and I hope it's worth waiting this long time. It's longer than the others. Have fun with it. Tell me what you think about it. /span/strong/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB"_/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB"Amagiri looked at him sceptically. "You didn't sound fine." Kazama could hear real worry in his voice. Slowly Kazama's hands covered his face. He could feel his hot skin, though it was wet due to the sweating while he slept. Slowly he stood up and without looking at Amagiri another time, he went out of the room to take a bath. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB"The warm water around his body made him relax a little. He lay in the hot water for almost an hour, his mind blank. Again, and again her words sounded in his ears. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"I hate you./em That were the last words, he ever wanted to hear from Chizuru. Worse was only what Hijikata said. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"His wife./em Was that, what would happen? Didn't he had any chance to win her? Was everything he did useless? Then another thought found his attention. The day, when he came into the Yukimura village to get betroth with that six-year-old girl. Still at that young age she was beautiful. The way she had talked to him and the way she acted made his heart warmer. But the dream of last night made him shiver every time he thought about that. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB"When he crawled out of his bath, he sighed loudly. The gorgeous heat vanished by the second his skin let go of the water. Hasty he put his body into a towel, before he dressed in his yukata. The fabric on his skin was soft and warm. He loved this yukata over all. It had a warm white tone with black and golden ornaments. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB"Then he went back into the house, where he met Shiranui, who was talking to Amagiri. As Shiranui realised that Kazama stood behind him, he turned around and smiled at him. br / "Good morning. I heard you had a nightmare. What was it about?" he teased. Kazama's crimson eyes focused Shiranui's. And from the look of his opponent a shiver went down his spine due to Kazama's / "It was just a dream." br / He discounted it, waved his hand and cocked his head. But the other oni had no intention to drop the topic. "You dreamt about that girl, didn't you?" his voice was pregnant with teasing. Kazama tried to stay calm, but when Shiranui smirked, he realised that he gave his friend just what he wanted. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB"Kazama's expression was easily readable by the purple-haird-man at the moment and he had caught him on the wrong foot on the wrong day. It seemed they spend to much time together. Kazama realised that he needed to hide his expressions much more from his comrades or it would become tedious someday./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB"Suddenly Shiranui made a move, stood up and went to the window. It was a beautiful day even though it began to turn into winter. First snow flakes had fallen to the ground and vanished as soon as they touched the ground. The man placed his elbows on the windowsill. The wind caught his hair and let it blow to all sides. It looked rather funny with his long hair. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB""You know." He started, his gaze far away somewhere by the mountains. br / "I met Harada today. He blocked me and told me he had no time to play. It really upset me because it's fun to play games with the human. However, when he told me that some of the humans were ill I accepted his break. I think Chizuru might be under the sick. Maybe you should have a look." br / With the last sentence he turned to face the blond and had an amused look on his face. It was embarrassing that he was increasingly capable to pull Kazama's strings. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB"With a snarl Kazama stared a little longer at his grinning friend and then left the room. First, he walked without any destination but soon he found himself walking that familiar path towards the headquarters of a sudden group of people. He hadn't indented to walk that way in the first place, but he thought he might take a visit when he already was close by. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB"The sun was about to set behind the horizon, the sun already was a big red ball which was about to kiss the mountains. Patiently he stayed near the building until everyone settled down and went to bed. He tried to stay in the distant to avoid an encounter. When the voices finally ebbed away and the last person, after what felt like eternity, fell asleep he set a foot into the building./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB"The moon stood high on the sky already and shone in all his brightness. For a short moment Kazama admired the beauty of the orb far away in the sky. But just for a short moment. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB"With silent movements he invaded, once again, the Shinsengumi headquarters and went straight for Chizuru's room. It was at the far end of the right wing of the building. The oni passed a lot occupied rooms from which he could hear either silent or loud snoring men. He just went past them but stopped when he heard a voice. "Chizuru, please recover quickly." The voice sounded drunken, so he presumed the person was sleeping. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB"Then he started his way towards her chamber again. When he finally made it, he was careful to open her door as silent as possible. There was no light in the room, though he could see everything nearly as clear as when it was day, thanks to his oni eyes. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB"And there she was, sleeping in her futon. Slowly Kazama made some steps into her direction, after he had closed the door. A few moments he stood there and just watched her sleeping. Her brown hair covered most of her face. It was longer than the last time he had seen her. When he crouched near her futon, he saw that sweat covered her face and made her hair stick to it like glue. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB"He bent over her torso, carefully he placed his hand on her cheek. She was burning like hell. She really was ill, and it might take her some time to recover. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB"For a while he just held his touch and inspected her. If she just knew who he really was. He wished he could tell her and she would believe him one time. He stared at her perfectly smooth skin, let his thumb slide over it. All at once Chizuru opened her eyes and Kazama draw his hand away. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB""Kazama-san?" she asked drowsy. br / "What are you doing here?" her eyes just half open fixated his. He cocked his head, a smile appeared on his lips. She was a beauty and a sweet one when she was half asleep. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB""Just looking after you." Her eyes widened, and abruptly Chizuru's eyes were full opened. She pressed her lips together and then parted them but before she could say something his index finger stopped her. As his finger met her soft lips a flash ran through his limbs. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB""You need to go back to sleep." His voice was soft. For another moment he caressed her cheeks and then he left. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB"+++/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB"After the man left her, she automatically moved her hand to the spot where his hand was the moment before. For a reason she didn't understand why her heart was pounding faster than usual. For a long time, she was frozen in that movement. Was he really there or had she imagined him? She didn't know. Chizuru couldn't imagine why Kazama would be and maybe she was just imagining him. Even though she asked herself why she would dream of the man that tried to kidnap her many times. She sighed and came to the resolution that it didn't help to think about something she wouldn't find an answer to. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB"Still upset she turned her body to face the wall and closed her eyes. Though, her heart was still beating like she ran a marathon. When she awoke the next morning Heisuke greeted her. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB""Good morning Chizuru. How are you today?" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB"His always cheerful mood made her feel better. br / When she brought herself into an upright position she felt pain emerging in her head. She wasn't good. Basically, she felt worse than yesterday, not that she would mention that to her friend. She didn't want to be a burden to her friends. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB""Much better." /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB"She said instead and tried to hold the pain out of her voice. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB""Ah that's good." Heisuke smiled at her and it infected her, so she smiled back. The boy always had a way of making her feel comfortable. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB""Did you have any trouble sleeping the night?" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB"Her Thoughts went back to last night. The picture of a person came into her sight. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Him./em After their encounter she truly had trouble falling asleep again. But for some reason she didn't share that with him. It was because she wasn't even sure that he was there. Chizuru hoped that he hadn't and that her heart was beating like a battle drum because of her fever. Deep down she hoped that it was just a fever dream./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB"So, in the end she just shook her head. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB""That's good. I will tell Hijikata about your condition. And I will come back with a delicious breakfast. Wait for me." Heisuke ran out of her room and let her perplexed behind. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB"And he did come back half an hour later. While he was away she used the time to dress herself properly. During her illnesses she mostly wore kimonos because they felt much more comfortable on her skin. So, at the moment she wore a white one with snowflakes stitched to it. The oni loved her kimonos, though due to her usual boys' clothing, she mostly forgot that she had some. Therefore, she used the opportunity of her disease to wear these./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB"Heisuke brought her a plate full of things. From vegetables to apples and cherrys to some dried meat. Chizuru didn't really feel like eating all that stuff, but she knew if she wouldn't she might drown all her energy soon. Slowly she emptied the plate, but everything tasted just the same or more like nothing at all. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB""Thank you, Heisuke-kun." She said when it was empty and put the plate next to her. Unexpectedly she felt exhausted and lay down to rest. As soon as her eyes went shut she fell into a deep slumber without realising that Heisuke was talking to her. Far away she just heard his voice enthusiastically. But soon after everything went dumb and her mind slipped into another world./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB"+++/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB"The blond could feel her scent everywhere on him. It really took him all his strength to let go of her in that moment when she recognised him. His need to be with her, to feel her skin, to smell her scent, to see the last of her clan, it nearly killed him. But he had remembered what Sen had asked him. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Do you even know what women want?/em He tried so hard the right way and still he wasn't any nearer to be with that woman. He sighed loudly. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB"His feet carried him along the crowded road without any direction. He still had responsibilities to the Satsuma people but at the moment he didn't care. He didn't care because this female oni made his thoughts go numb, she made him go crazy. For one second his dream came into view again, but he pushed the thought about it far away to the back of his head. Still, his heart stitched for a few seconds. He shook his head and breathed some calm breaths to steady his mind. A decision was made. He would go back and see her again. Until he knew that her condition was better./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB"When the sun went down, the blonde quietly pushed open the door to her room. As the last time, she was rolled up in blankets. The chill air filled her room and mixed up with her scent. Kazama took a deep breath. Afterwards he sat down next to her. Pearls of sweat covered her forehead, her breathing was heavy. Carefully he moved closer and put his hand on her front. Her skin was burning hot. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB"Suddenly a grumble caught his attention. His gaze moved to her face. It seemed she had difficulties to open her eyes but then there she was staring straight into his crimson eyes. "Am I dreaming again?" she asked dizzy./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB"But he just shook his head and shushed her. "You are not. And you weren't the last time. I'm here to look after you." A grin smile appeared on his face as he touched her checks once more. Chizuru was blushing at his touch. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB""How do you feel?" he asked gently. Chizuru sat up, lent herself against the wall next to her. Then she looked at him and put her hands in her lap. Her eyes were sunken, and her skin still sweat drunken. "I've felt better." She said honestly, her voice weak. "May I?" he asked politely, his nod to symbolise her that he wanted to sit down as well. When she nodded, he let himself down next to her with his back pressed against the wall, his eyes fixated her. She really was weak, and her illness would take her back to sleep soon. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB""Why do you care so much?" she wondered, her undertone full of curiosity. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB"Kazama sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "You remind me of someone." He began but paused for a second./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB""Remind you of whom?" Her voice was silent, nearly faint, almost as if she would pass out any second. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"You remind me of a great person. You know, I was betrothed a long time ago." Again, he paused. Chizuru let out a sound of surprise, her attention hung on his lips. She made a puzzled face but stood silent as she didn't want to disturb him. But when he didn't answer, she broke the silence after a few minutes. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB""You were betrothed?" Kazama nodded, his eyes seeking the wall at the very end of her room. "She was beautiful. Even though she was just a child back then. Her parents had arranged the engagement and I visited her often in her village. But before we could find to each other I lost her." He said, his voice dry. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB"While his eyes met Chizuru's, he could see that she was sorry for him. Though, it hurt that he told this story her, the one he lost. The one he wasn't sure he would ever be able to get close to again. "Did you love her?" Chizuru sounded curious. "At first, I was only determined to uphold the duty I had to my family, to my folk. But when I saw her that day, I realised that she was something special. She found a place in my heart." Kazama felt how talking about his past with her was harder than expected. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB"He watched her every move. His words must have touched her, because she lowered her head and Kazama's sight fell onto a bracelet with a sun charm, to which her fingers moved. "I have someone special too, but I don't know the man was who gave me this. I just know that heem style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;" is/em special."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB"Careful he reached out to touch the arm on which the bracelet was. His index finger met the hand of hers which clutched to the charm. Carefully his fingers went over the charm. For a mere second, he wished he had her charm still on him, so he would feel her heart beating. But he put it away the second he thought she had died. Still here she was. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB""You will find him again, one day." He said, as their eyes met. "Just believe in it." He smiled a sad smile. It was, what he hoped for himself. That she would find her way to him one day. And as long as his dream didn't come true he saw a chance. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB""How did you lose her?" Chizuru asked curiously, he sighed. "Difficult to explain. She died a long time ago. At least I thought that she was. Found out lately, that she hadn't." Was all he could say without revealing the truth. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB"Suddenly he felt her hand over his. "I'm sorry. I hope you will find you way back to her." Her brown eyes bored into his. They stared at each other for a long time and Kazama's heart was pounding hard and fast in his chest. He could feel her breathing on his face. It made him almost go on overdrive. His eyes moved to look at her full lips. Never was his desire to kiss her stronger. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB"Slowly he moved his head towards her face. Her gaze was dizzy, and she seemed not to fully understand what he was about to do. When there only was a millimetre between their faces he could feel this beautiful tingling, not only in his stomach but also on his skin. It was everywhere. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB"Carefully he placed one of his hands on her cheek and was about to kiss her, but something kept him from really kissing her. Instead he pressed his lips against her forehead. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB""Sleep well." He finally said again and was about to stand up, as Chizuru grabbed his arm. "Don't leave me. Keep my company." She said weak. Slowly he let himself down again and when he did, Chizuru moved closer and lent against his shoulder. A minute later she was asleep, her hands clutched around his arm. Even if he wanted to stand up, he couldn't manage it, without waking her up. And that was the last thing he wanted./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB"Soon after his eyes fell shut too. Their closeness made him fell comfortable and he found sleep with the woman pressed against his arm. Never he would have imagined it. Even though, it was just because of her sickness./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB"+++/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB"The next morning when he woke and opened up his eyes, he saw that Chizuru slept in his arms. She looked better that the last days. The sweat that covered her body the last days was gone and her temperature was down, too. Her breathing was consistent and calm. She recovered, and he was glad she did. Without waking her, he stroked through her hair and put a strand of brown hair behind her ear, which fell into her face. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB"Kazama stared at her quite a long time, without stopping caressing her head. Suddenly the door to their right was opened. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB""What are you doing here?" An irritated and angry Hijikata spat at him. When the voice of the human resonated, he startled up. For a short moment he was caught off guard. Short after his mind settled again. The blond put another strand of her hair behind her ear and caressed her cheeks. When Hijikata made a threatening step in their direction, Kazama carefully put Chizuru down, without waking her. Though, she breathed a loud gasp and Kazama went dead in his move until he was sure she wouldn't wake up. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB"Then he shot the man a deadly glare. His crimson eyes blazed at him. Their eyes locked. Silently Kazama stood up, took a last glimpse at Chizuru, and then turned towards Hijikata. Out of a sudden he was standing right in front of the man. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB""What are you doing here?" he asked again, now his voice was quieter and more dangerous. His hands wandered towards his katana, which he had always with him. Kazama on the other hand was calm. He made no move. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB""You mustn't worry. I didn't do anything. Just taking care of her." He said and stepped out of the door. But before he could get fully away, Hijikata grabbed his arm. "You can't come again." He said, angrily, the statement was a threat. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB"Kazama just shrug his shoulders. "I can do whatever I please. You can't do anything about it." In the next moment, Hijikata had pulled his sword out of its sheath and went for a heap. The sword would have hit his head, if he hadn't stepped away and put his hand on the blade. Blood was running down the blade and his hand. Though it hurt, he knew it would heal almost straight away. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB"Within the next second the oni had pulled the sword towards him and thrown it away by the time Hijikata was forced to let go of it. A few metres behind him the samurai's katana hit the floor with a shrill sound. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB""Don't you dare threatening me." The oni said angry and then he forced Hijikata with his back against a wall of the building. Kazama's hand pressed against his throat. The oni wasn't hurting the human, though he wanted to make sure, he understood that he couldn't force him to stay away from Chizuru. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB""Do that again and I em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"will /emhurt you. Keep that back in mind." He said, with his face next to his ear. It was just a whisper. Though, he knew that Hijikata had heard him. Afterwards he let go of the human and vanished. He didn't mean to do what he had but the second he saw Hijikata, a wave of anger flushed over him. The wound, the dream had left, made him act as though it wasn't just a dream. /span/p 


End file.
